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<title>I Found You Again (Jongho, Hongjoong) by Reina1</title>
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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25188142">I Found You Again (Jongho, Hongjoong)</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reina1/pseuds/Reina1'>Reina1</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Storyline Entries [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>ATEEZ (Band)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>ATEEZ Global Storyline Contest, ATEEZ Storyline Event, Alternate Universe - Non-Famous, Alternate Universe - Not K-Pop Idols, Angst, Gen, Storyline, Storyline Challenge</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 08:15:05</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>838</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25188142</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reina1/pseuds/Reina1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>For the Global Storyline Contest, based off the prompt:</p><p>I was too young to know how to reach out to my lost friend.<br/>Where am I now, where should I go?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Storyline Entries [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1824481</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>I Found You Again (Jongho, Hongjoong)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>     I sit outside until the sun dips beneath the sky and the coldness of the day seeps into my skin. There’s nothing in my mind, because I make sure not to let anything enter it. It used to be a conscious effort, but now I can easily stare at the flickering lamp across the street and lose myself in a void of emotion. I unpack the day into the meticulously neat compartments of my mind, then head into my dorm room with everything under control. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     As it should be. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     No one is back yet from dance practice, and my throat is still sore from vocal lessons, so I move towards the bathroom to freshen up before I make a cup of tea with honey. I flip the hourglass next to the sink over so I don’t get lost in my thoughts and fall down a dangerous spiral. I was too young to reach out to my lost friend, and now I’m too old to fix what I lost.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Inevitably, my mind is relaxed, and memories of </span>
  <em>
    <span>him </span>
  </em>
  <span>start to float into my head, of his quiet strength and his relentless dedication, and I quickly turn off the faucet to clean my face. Something feels off, but I’d rather ignore it and distract myself with a drama than dwell on what can’t be reversed, so I open the door to leave.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     I… don’t know what’s going on. For the past two years that I’ve lived in the dorm room, the bathroom </span>
  <em>
    <span>always </span>
  </em>
  <span>opens up into the living room. It would be absurd if it didn’t; rooms don’t just float around and rearrange themselves. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>      But somehow, I’ve opened the door into one of the studios, and I can see a blue-haired man sitting at the piano. My throat constricts and I move towards him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Jongho!” I’m met with a blinding smile. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “Hongjoong hyung?” My voice is hoarse. I can’t believe that </span>
  <em>
    <span>he’s here. </span>
  </em>
  <span>I’m not sure this isn’t a dream right now. “Where am I now?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “You’re at a crossroads, Jongho.” His eyes are alight with excitement, but I’m sure that mine are filling up with tears. “There was a man who told me something amazing, and I found out it was true!” He points to the hourglass on top of the piano. It’s identical to the one I have: small and wooden, but filled with miniscule golden crystals. In his, though, the crystals are all at the top of the glass. I begin to wonder if I saw the crystals in my hourglass pour out at all today.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     I try to speak, but my voice catches in my throat and memories start flooding my mind. I lean against the piano to steady myself. “I thought you were </span>
  <em>
    <span>gone</span>
  </em>
  <span>, hyung. I saw you wave goodbye and step on the train, but I never saw you after that and I thought something </span>
  <em>
    <span>happened </span>
  </em>
  <span>but nobody would tell me anything. I didn’t know where I should go, hyung, you took care of me for years and then you were </span>
  <em>
    <span>gone</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” I can feel a tear slip out, but I wipe it away quickly. Even though he cared for me like his little sibling, playing the piano for me when I sang and staying up all night so I could improve, I always tried to be tougher, </span>
  <em>
    <span>braver</span>
  </em>
  <span>, than him. Because that’s all I could give in return: my unrelenting support and a promise to protect. I couldn’t keep that promise, though, or I would have never lost him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Hongjoong’s eyes soften, and he walks over to me. I sink into his hug. “Hey. I wanted to return, but I couldn’t… I wasn’t even in the same world as you anymore, Jongho.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     I don’t understand what’s going on. “Hyung?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>     “A man came to me that day. He told me that there were countless dimensions, and flipped an hourglass. The sand flowed upwards, but I didn’t understand why that was, so I got on the train, and the train took me to another dimension. I couldn’t come back until I… found myself.” His eyes unfocus for a moment, then he resumes his attention on me. I’m worried now. Whatever </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>happened to Hongjoong clearly messed up his mind. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Cautiously I say, “I don’t think I believe you.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     He smiles. “You shouldn’t. It’s a crazy thing to believe, but I can show you that it’s true.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     He pulls me towards the door of the studio, then turns to me again, with a worried frown. “Jongho, we’ve found each other, but there are still others that we must save. Do you think you can do that?” His hand is on the handle, and the brass is glowing under his fingers. I can tell that he’s willing to stop his search if I ask him to. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     The only thing I’ll ever ask of him now is to stay by me, and I won’t ever let go. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>I nod at him, and he pulls open the door to an incomprehensible darkness. He steps inside, taking me with him. </span>
</p>
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